Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The moon had just begun peeking her head over Hermitland, chatter filling the crisp night air. It wasn’t a rare occurrence for all of the hermits to be together, but this one was special. Tonight, a meteor shower was going to pass over Hermitcraft, and everyone wanted to see it.

The Architechs and Stress were chatting around a makeshift campfire, roasting marshmallows and currently laughing their heads off about something Iskall has said. A few others had set up a game of cornhole that False and Doc were playing quite competitively, with Wels, Python, Joe, and Cleo all watching and cheering them on.

It was nice. 

Xisuma had taken his helmet off, letting his messy hair flow in the night breeze. Although he had a bit of trouble breathing properly, it still felt great. He shut his eyes, leaning back and taking in a deep breath.

It wasn’t long before X could hear some people excitedly saying that it was starting. He opened his eyes, seeing in his peripheral all the hermits getting onto blankets they had spread out on the grass, staring up at the sky.

The sky was marvellous. 

The stars fell in sheets, dancing across the heavens in an abstract mess of natural beauty. They shone brighter than ever, so bright, in fact, that shadows had found their way onto the grass.

It wasn’t often Xisuma saw stars like this. It wasn’t often he saw stars at all, really. Most of the hermits usually paid more attention to phantoms and unfinished projects, and he was no different in that aspect.

The meteor shower was beginning to die down, now less of a shower and more of a light drizzle. The occasional star would whizz by, but other than that the hermits had begun to return to a few festivities like PVP or roasting marshmallows.

Everything was peaceful for a few hours. The only sounds were the gentle chatter of the hermits who decided to stay despite their tiredness and the crackle of a dying fire. Xisuma was nodding in and out of a light nap when someone started saying something about a red star.

“Nah, that’s pink,” Scar observed, looking up at the strangely-pigmented star in question.

“Don’t even argue. It’s red,” Grian responded.

“It doesn’t matter what color it is, I think it’s getting closer,” Doc said, standing to get a better look.

Xisuma opened his eyes and saw a meteor high in the sky, falling down right in their direction. All weariness left his limbs as he was suddenly filled with adrenaline. The star was going to hit Hermitland.

People started running as it got closer, abandoning the blankets and the food and the unfinished cornhole game. Xisuma narrowly jumped out of the blast range, being propelled forward straight into a tree trunk.

The clamoring started to die down. X’s forehead felt wet with blood, his vision was blurry. He only realized his breathing had gone ragged when Wels walked over with his helmet and a damp cloth, helping clean up the blood. Xisuma put on the helmet, taking in a few deep breaths and closing his eyes. Damn. 

His peace was quickly interrupted, however, as Doc was yelling something.

“There’s someone in the crater!”

Xisuma stumbled to his feet, still a little woozy, and walked over to the edge of the crater. Indeed, there was someone in the middle, curled up like a turtle clad in red armor. Red armor that was very, very familiar.

“...Evil Xisuma?” Xisuma asked quietly, almost worried for what the answer would be.

Ex raised his head quickly, looking around and locking eyes with Xisuma. They stared at each other in shock for a minute, silence coating the area like a thick fog.

“Xisuma,” Ex finally said, getting to his feet and starting to climb out of the crater. X backed up, folding his arms tightly over his chest and narrowing his eyes. 

“I thought I banned you.”

“You did, but-”

“How did you get back here?” X felt more tired than anything, dull pain now reverberating in his skull.

“I can explain,” he started quickly. “But,can we.. talk in private?” He asked a bit quieter, his gaze flickering over the other hermits who were looking extremely confused.

Xisuma sighed, shutting his eyes and nodding. “Okay.” He raised his voice for the others to hear. “We can all go home now. It’s late anyway. I’ll fill the hole in the morning.”

Because Ex didn’t have an elytra, the pair had to walk to the closest place that X could call a base: the Illager Temple in Hermitville. The walk over was filled only with silence and the now faint chatter of hermits leaving.

Xisuma sat down on one of the pews, glaring at Ex. The light of the lanterns warmed his brother’s face. It could have felt good to be in the cathedral, with its comforting glow and only slightly ominous aura. It should have, but now Ex was here and he hated it.

“Well? Out with it,” he said, growing more and more irritated with every second.

“Look, I came back for a reason, so please just give me a minute to explain before you get angry-”

“What’s the reason? Did you come back to finally blow up the server?” X laughed a dark, bitter laugh. “How did you even-”

“I came back to warn you.”

X paused, successfully caught off guard and suddenly silent.

Ex took this chance to continue. “I know you probably don’t trust me-” “I dont.” “-Right, but hear me out for a second. I.. I know things about you that you don’t know. Stuff I can’t tell you. I need you to stay away from the End for a bit. Maybe a month, maybe a year. Just don’t go there.” He paused. “..Please.”

Xisuma laughed again. “You have to be joking.”

“You know I’m not.”

“Why would I listen to you? What would happen if I went there? How am I supposed to think this isn’t just you trying to hurt me in some way?” Xisuma asked, getting to his feet. “I mean, you’ve practically destroyed Hermitland within seconds of being back. What, are you going to destroy the End too?” He was mostly joking, but the thought of not being able to go to his favorite place in the universe…

Ex blinked a few times in surprise. Xisuma didn’t often get angry. His eyes softened through the red-tinted glass of his helmet, and he placed a tentative hand on X’s shoulder. “Xisuma-”

“Don’t touch me.” Xisuma shoved his hand away, turning his eyes to the ground so he didn’t have to see the sadness suddenly filling his brother’s eyes. “I’m not letting you ruin everything. Not now.” He pulled up his communicator and typed in a simple command:

/Ban EvilXisuma

Ex tried to say something as he was forcefully shoved to wherever he went when he got banned. X didn’t try to listen. He shut his eyes, taking in a deep breath. 

Xisuma had banned Ex before and felt nothing but accomplishment. So, why was guilt pooling in his gut the second time? Why did he feel like he had just made a mistake?

He sighed. Just breathe. Maybe stop by the End to mellow out for a bit. Ex’s warning rang in his ears, making him open his eyes a crack, half expecting him to be there. He wasn’t, and X wasn’t sure whether to feel relieved or disappointed. 

He decided to go home, trudging through the Nether and into the portal leading to his base. He took off his helmet, wiping the last bits of crusted blood from the cut at the top of his forehead before collapsing straight into a random bed placed on the cold prismarine floor.

Sleep didn’t come, though. Xisuma sat in his bed, tossing and turning and oh so tired, and yet he couldn’t seem to go to bed. After a while, he got up and activated his elytra, flying to the top of the geometric mess that was the entrance to his base and looking up at the stars.

It was going to be a long night.

----

Being banned was painful. It felt like all of your molecules being shifted in and out of place, travelling to somewhere, anywhere other than where you had previously been. The Universe wasn’t kind; Ex knew that well. 

It hurt more the second time. The physical aspect of it felt the same, but the hatred in his brother’s voice was enough to make his eyes sting with tears. 

He tried not to take it personally. His attempts were fruitless in this regard.

Now he stood in the Void, waves of static seemingly rippling past him like wind. His helmet was off, mercilessly ripped away from him. His hair was covering his face, yet he couldn’t move to brush it away.

It was torture being stuck there.

Ex missed Xisuma. He would never say it out loud, but he missed him so much it hurt. He missed how close they used to be before everything. Before Hermitcraft. 

He would have sighed if he weren’t trapped in place.

It took a while for Ex to sense another presence around him. He wasn’t as good at recognizing energies anymore. 

She went by Villapura, a creature made of the Void and nothing else. She could have been beautiful, but Ex never saw her to be. Of course she would be there. Of course he would have to deal with her again, after so narrowly escaping to warn his brother.

“Look who’s crawled back?” She drawled from behind him, voice sickeningly sweet. His muscles tensed. “Glad to see you and your brother will be reunited soon. Back home, of course, where you belong. It was funny to see you try and stop me, Ex, and I truly hope you enjoy your stay back where you should be.” A deathly cold hand rested on his shoulder.

Ex felt nothing for a blessed few seconds. Then, an ear-splitting scream echoed through the Void, with Villapura being the only one to hear it.

Chapter Text

Xisuma woke up to the sound of a scream. He jolted to a sitting position, eyes darting about, looking for the source of the noise.

The only thing he saw was the expanse of ocean in front of him, and the dark prismarine under him. There was nobody around. 

It was overcast, his hair soaked from being rained on for at least a few hours. He shivered, gliding down into his base to put his helmet back on and dry off. 

As X brewed himself a quick cup of tea, he read through the main chat on his com.

   [Iskall85 fell out of the world.]

  [MumboJumbo fell out of the world.]

 MumboJumbo: ?? uh

 MumboJumbo: whats up with the end

 Grian: What do you mean

 Iskall85: we died right after going in the portal..

 Grian: you SPOONS

 RentheDog: im gonna have to side with the g man on this one

 Grian: its obvious you just fell and are trying to cover it up

 Iskall85: then come here and find out for yourself you goblin

 Grian: FINE give me five minutes

 [Grian fell out of the world.]

 MumboJumbo: I told you!!

The chat continued on with Ren and the Architechs joking about the experience. As X sipped his tea, he noticed a private message from Scar.

  [Private message with GoodTimesWithScar]

 GoodTimesWithScar: Hey, you were gonna fill up that crater right?

 Xisuma: Yeah, what’s up?

 GoodTimesWithScar: Maybe you should come over here and check it out..

Xisuma stared at the communicator as if it would give him any answers. He finished the tea, wincing at how hot it still was. He put his helmet on, walking over to the Nether portal.

When the nausea of walking through the portal wore off, X noticed two things: the heat and the smell.

The weather in the Nether usually consisted of heat and more heat, but usually it wasn’t that bad. Annoying, sure, but not suffocating. The air felt thicker than usual, making it difficult to breathe. The heat prickled at his skin. It wasn’t pleasant, to say the least.

And the smell was horrible. Usually his helmet filtered out any strong smells. He hated it.

He tried to ignore it and just get through quickly, and he succeeded with minimal discomfort. Weird.

X flew over to Hermitland, spotting Scar standing next to what should have been the crater. He glided down, landing next to the man.

The crater was no longer a crater. The empty space had been filled up with endstone, sticking out like a sore thumb next to the grass. It was already strange, but the fact that little black and purple mushrooms were growing in the pores of the rock was even more curious.

“I’m no botanist, but I don’t think those mushrooms are a native species,” Scar said. 

Xisuma hummed in agreement, kneeling down and taking a closer look at the mushroom. It had a purple cap and a black stem, little white and light purple specks scattered across the top. It felt familiar. He scooted away, eyeing it warily. 

“I’ve never seen it..” He said slowly, not exactly trusting his own answer. 

“Hm. I’ll take some to Area 77 for testing.” Scar moved to pick one.

“Don’t touch it!” X suddenly shouted, Scar freezing in place. X silently cursed himself for yelling. Why did he even do that? “..I think it would probably be best. Since.. Since we don’t know anything about it. Could be poisonous.” He said, quieter. 

Scar laughed awkwardly. “Yeah, you’re probably right. I can clean out the endstone if you’d like, you look really tired.”

Do I? “No, it’s alright. I said I would.” X sighed. He felt sick. Everything was a bit too loud. It was still drizzling.

Scar shrugged. “Alright. Just.. maybe get some rest, alright?” He patted Xisuma on the shoulder. The touch felt like bugs crawling under his skin.

Xisuma nodded. “Yeah. See you later.” He waited until Scar had left before getting to work on making the endstone into grass.

He avoided the mushrooms in his work. Even looking at them made his heart rate go up and uneasiness cloud his thoughts. It didn’t seem right to him to be near them, but despite his common sense he got rid of all of the endstone that had no mushrooms.

At the bottom, encased in the rock, laid a chest. The wood was dark and seemingly rotting, the beginnings of some similar fungus to the ones growing in the endstone growing on the sides. X eyed it, unsure of whether to open the box or not.

Curiosity got the better of him. He opened the chest.

Inside was a small orb of polished bedrock. Xisuma audibly gasped when he saw it, getting a rush of nostalgia for memories he no longer had access to. He reached in to grab it before stopping, hand hovering in midair. What if this was a trap? What even was that thing anyway? It’s not possible to polish bedrock. He reluctantly retracted his hand.

The sphere looked impossibly familiar, yet X couldn’t for the life of him remember ever seeing it. He wanted nothing more than to just hold it, feel the cool stone against his calloused hands, yet this felt like a trap in some way.

He checked to see if the chest was trapped. It was not. 

Slowly, he grabbed the ball, and when nothing blew up or clicked, he let out a relieved breath. Under it had been a single piece of paper. He picked it up curiously, inspecting the purple writing on the front. It was in Galactic, neatly written but not signed at the bottom. It wasn’t a handwriting he recognized. 

Xisuma used to be able to read Galactic fluently, but as time went on he fell out of practice. All he could make out now were a few stray letters. He listed off all the people in the server who would possibly know Galactic, and landed on Joe. He was the most likely, having previously mentioned he did.

X whipped out his communicator, entering into a message with the poet in question.

  [Private message with JoeHillsTSD]

 Xisuma: Hey, you know Galactic, right?

 JoeHillsTSD: i sure do, why?

 Xisuma: Great!

 Xisuma: Are you busy?

 JoeHillsTSD: nope! Just taking a break from working on a build. I can meet you somewhere?

 Xisuma: I’d love that. How about we meet at your Roller Toaster?

 JoeHillsTSD: sounds like a plan.

X exited the chat. He picked up the paper and bedrock ball, breaking the chest and filling the hole with dirt. He jumped into the air, gliding over to the Roller Toaster. Joe was already there waiting for him, writing down something.

“Howdy, X! Glad to see you around.” Joe paused. “Is everythin’ alright with you and your brother? Seemed tense last night.”

X nodded. “Yeah, just.. Had to ban him again. Anyway, I need something translated from Galactic.” He handed Joe the piece of paper, quickly brushing off the mention of Ex. He couldn’t think about him. Not right now.

Joe examined the paper, raising an eyebrow. “Where did you get this?”

X paused. “I think it was from a leftover prank or something. Saw it floating in the wind.” It didn’t feel good to lie, but it was probably for the best. X didn’t know what he was getting himself into with whatever was said on the paper.

“It just says ‘I thought you would like a taste of home.’ Curious, truly. Anythin’ else you have for me?”

X shook his head. “No, thanks for your help.” He took back the paper and shoved it in his pocket. “Hopefully I’ll figure out what it means.”

“Alrighty. Oh, and, Xisuma?” Xisuma stopped leaving, looking at Joe. “Are you alright? You look pretty stressed.”

The truth was that he was stressed, but not any more so than usual. Did he really look that bad? He smiled tiredly, even though he knew Joe wouldn’t see it through his helmet. 

“Yeah, I’m okay. Late night is all. I’ll be seeing you.” X flew up before Joe could respond with some fatherly advice, most likely delivered in rhymes. He wasn’t having a great day, if he were being honest.

The wind whipping past X combined with the still pattering rain was growing more and more irritating. Things weren’t usually this annoying. Why were they this annoying?

The tiredness that everyone had been seeing on his face was finally setting in, laying in his bones as if they had never not been there. The sound of the rain which should have been calming was more of an annoyance than anything, droning on without rest. Every smell, sound, and taste felt like it was burning him, searing a scar on his soul. 

He decided to fly all the way back to the mainland. The Nether sounded unbearable.

Once X reached Tower Bay, he glided down into the carved in area and sat down in the hall. Exhaustion sapped at his limbs.

X fished out the bedrock orb, holding it in his hand. It perfectly fit in his palm, weighing down his hand. It was smooth and cold and so perfectly grounding, as if it were made for him. 

He began to feel a little less tired. His eyes closed, and all his worries about the current situation dissolved. Maybe this wasn’t as bad as he had previously thought.

Chapter Text

It ached to be away from home for so long. His arms felt weak, hanging down. How long did he have arms like that for? Where was his magic? How long had it been gone?

He felt dazed. There was a red man in front of him, seemingly waking him up from a nap. It felt too hot, too bright. The man was speaking now, yet X couldn’t hear what he was saying.

X looked down at his arms. He was still holding the bedrock orb. How comforting. How grounding. It reminded him of home. What was home, anyway? He couldn’t seem to remember. He missed it anyway.

The red man had grabbed his arm now. The pain of the touch was enough to make him cry out. Or maybe he wasn’t, it was impossible to hear. It sounded like everything was on the other side of thick glass. 

He was tired again. His eyes closed, and he was out.

---

“-And then he just passed out right there! I didn’t know what to do, so I took him here,” Python rambled anxiously. 

Cub nodded. “And he hasn’t woken up since?”

“Well, he woke up a few times to mutter incomprehensibly at me and struggle away, but other then that no.”

Cub placed a glass of water on the table next to where Xisuma was resting. They were in a makeshift medical tent in the Shopping District. When Python had come, frantically yelling about Xisuma being hurt, Cub was the only one around, so he helped out. 

X had been mumbling in his sleep every once in a while, seemingly having a nightmare. Python was sitting next to him, quietly saying little encouragements. 

“I’m not really sure where to go from here,” Cub confessed, “All we can do is just wait for him to-”

Xisuma’s eyes flickered open, and he let out a gasp. 

Python gasped excitedly. “X! You’re awake!”

Xisuma winced, sitting up slowly. There was a ringing in his ears. He blinked rapidly. Where am I? Why am I so tired?

Cub handed X the water and a bowl of mushroom stew. X took off his helmet to drink. He felt like he hadn’t had anything to eat or drink in weeks; throat feeling like sandpaper and stomach growling. 

X inhaled sharply, pinching his eyes shut. “Where am I?”

“Shopping District,” Python said. “Are you alright?”

He nodded, running a hand through his hair. “Yeah. Yeah. I’m fine. How long have we been here?”

Cub peeked out the tent. “Few hours. You should probably rest though, you look a bit out of it.”

I’ve been doing too much resting. “Good plan. I think I’ll leave you two too it, then.” X stood, practically toppling to the ground as his knees buckled. Luckily, Python caught him in a half-hug. 

“You sure you don’t wanna stay for a bit longer?” Python asked, voice soft and concerned.

X nodded, head spinning. “Yes. I’ll just head back to my base.” Python gently let go. X smiled gratefully. It didn’t meet his tired eyes. “Thanks for taking care of me. Sorry to be a nuisance.”

“You’re fine. Holler if you need any more help.” Cub walked off. Python followed, giving X a pat on the arm as he left the tent.

X waited for the to leave before putting his helmet back on and walking out. He froze in place halfway through the door, though, ice flooding through his veins as he remembered what he had been holding when he fell asleep.

The bedrock ball.

His head whipped around back into the tent, looking around rapidly for the orb in question. A little voice in the back of his head reasonably asked why he cared so much about this random object. He wasn’t sure. He kept looking anyway.

After a few minutes of searching, he came to the horrifying realization that it wasn’t there. A sense of dread settled in his gut. 

He shut his eyes, counting to ten and trying to let the mature, logical part of his brain take over. It’s just a ball. It’s just a ball. You don’t even know where it came from. Could be a trap. Maybe it’s good you lost it.

He took a few deep breaths, and started on the fly back to Hermitland. Maybe he could work on a few projects to get his mind off of things.

-----

[Private message with cubfan135 and GoodTimesWithScar]

 Cubfan135: hey, i know the hib isn’t officially open yet but i think i’ve found something you’d find interesting

 GoodTimesWithScar: Nice! Come on over and show me!

Cub closed his com and grabbed some extra rockets. He glanced down at his pocket, where the sphere of bedrock weighed down his lab coat. He chewed the inside of his lip, debating whether he should actually show it to Scar. 

Python had found the thing in Xisuma’s hands when he had passed out at Tower Bay. Cub took it mostly because he thought it could have been what caused X’s sudden strange behavior, worried it could hurt him again, but it just seemed like a ball to him. 

It was heavy-almost unnaturally so-but that didn’t usually warrant concern. It was bedrock, after all. The thing was entirely smooth; no cracks on any side like how bedrock usually was. Cub didn’t even think it was possible to polish the stone, but with admin powers..

But then that raised the question: why would X want a ball of bedrock?

Cub was startled out of his internal soliloquy by his communicator buzzing again. It was Scar, asking what was taking so long. He typed out a quick apology and started to the nearest Nether portal.

Scar was waiting for him in full suit and sunglasses, a mock-serious expression on his face. Cub grinned at his friend. It had been a while since they hung out, and even if this was for investigation purposes he still appreciated it.

Scar broke out into an excited smile, embracing Cub tightly and chuckling. 

“Nice to see you man! Whaddya got for the HIB?” 

Cub pulled out the bedrock orb. “I’ve got this bad boy,” he responded, handing it over. “Python found it in Tower Bay.”

Scar nodded, twisting it in his hands. “Weird. Maybe it’s Xisuma’s?”

“That’s what I was thinking too, but can he even carve out bedrock like that?”

“You’ve got a point..” Scar muttered, squinting at the ball as if it would suddenly start answering their questions.

Cub shrugged. “I dunno, man. Just thought it was strange.”

“It is.” Scar paused for a second, eyes lighting up with an idea. “Do you think this has to do with the crater?”

Cub raised an eyebrow. “..What about the crater?”

“It was randomly filled up with endstone and these weird mushrooms were growing out of it. Here, let’s go check it out. I think Xisuma filled most of it up but I dunno what he did with the mushrooms. He seemed to not be a fan of ‘em.”

Cub nodded slowly. “Okay, let’s head over.”

They left the bedrock on the table and flew over to Hermitland. The crater had been filled with grass, some bits looking like man-made hills as if covering something.

Scar broke one of the hills up, revealing purple and black mushrooms underneath, growing in Endstone.

The mushrooms had black stems and smooth purple hats. There were large clusters growing in the rock, practically flourishing.

“Huh.” Scar laughed a little. “They’ve grown, I think.”

Cub nodded, destroying the rest of the grass covering it. “Let’s take this block of the endstone back to test.”

Scar dug out the endstone, carefully picking up the block. The two walked it back instead of flying so they wouldn’t disturb the fungus. 

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Cub spoke up.

“Y’know.. I kinda miss you at ConCorp.” He said quietly.

“Heh. I miss you too. I’m sorry, I’ve just been busy with all these projects with Area 77 opening and the HIB..”

“I know, it’s just nice we’re finally hanging out again.” Cub smiled sadly. He felt guilty for bringing it up, but it needed to be said. 

Scar grinned. “Maybe the real answers to our theories were the friends we got closer with on the way.”

The two cracked up, laughing as they made their way back to the Hermits in Black HQ. By the time they got back, their stomachs hurt. 

“Alright. Let’s do some testing!” Scar clapped his hands together, sitting down with Cub at a table. 

Scar plucked one of the smaller mushrooms with a tweezer. Upon moving it, sap started pouring out of little pores on the cap. Scar dropped the tweezers suddenly, pushing his chair back to get further away from it. The sap was white and smelled sickeningly sweet. 

Cub flinched back in surprise. “What the hell?” He murmured, staring at the mushroom in shock. The sap seemed to be acidic, dissolving the table below it. 

Scar blinked rapidly. “Wow. Uh. Maybe we shouldn’t do some testing.”

Cub laughed nervously. “I think I agree.”

Scar encased the fungus in a glass box. He stuck a sticky note to the box, reading “DO NOT TOUCH!! Not Scar safe-or anyone safe!” and they decided to take a break.

---

X’s communicator had been blowing up for hours. 

He got tired of working so he took a break, which lead to him feeling restless, but he was still too weak to work, so it just lead to him pacing through Hermitville and listening to his com buzz on and off.

People kept trying to go to the End and seemingly dying as soon as they stepped through the portal, their stuff appearing in the stronghold. Some people were messaging Xisuma directly, asking if he knew anything about the issue. He ignored the messages for the most part, responding briefly with anything along the lines of “Sorry! I’ll check it out ASAP!” and then going back to pacing. 

He didn’t know what was wrong with the End. Why would he know what was wrong with the End? He was expected to know, sure, but how would he? He was so irritated and tired. 

I just want to go home.

A little voice in the back of his head piped up in response:

So why don’t you?

Chapter Text

Xisuma stopped in his tracks, blinking rapidly. The thought had caught him off guard, but ended up making him even more stressed about the current situation. 

I’m already home, X tried to tell himself, but his heart wasn’t in it. He started pacing again. 

His com kept buzzing. His mind kept ringing. His feet kept moving. 

He tried to keep his mind away from the little bit of doubt in the back of his head, breathing in and out. In and out. His hands were shaking a little, tremoring like the beginnings of an earthquake. 

Often times, the world felt like too much. There were always hundreds of thousands of things going on at once, and he knew from the beginning of his first year on Hermitcraft that it just wasn’t going to be something he could get used to. It felt too cold, too hot, too much.

His eyes flickered across the path. He sighed quietly, chewing the inside of his cheek.

“Shishwami?”

X flinched, whipping his head around to see Keralis standing behind him. He looked nervous. Concerned.

“Ah. Didn’t see you there. What’s up?” Xisuma asked, trying to put on a calm face.

“Are you alright? I’ve been trying to get your attention for..” Keralis checked the com on his wrist. “Ten minutes.”

X sucked in a breath. “Sorry. I’m.. having a bit of a stressful day.” 

Keralis’ face softened into a gentle smile. “Well! I think I have just what the doctor ordered!” He gave X a quick, tight hug. X didn’t usually enjoy physical contact, but Keralis gave amazing hugs. Keralis let go, expression suddenly excited. “And! I actually wanted to ask you something!”

Xisuma raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Bubbles has been working really really hard on New Hermitville, and I wanted to make him a treat! But.. I’m not the best at baking. So! I wanted to ask you if you’d be willing to help! And..” he leaned in as if telling a secret, “I might be able to spare you a few extra!”

X smiled softly at his friend. “I’d love to.”

“Great!” Keralis chirped, activating his elytra. “Follow me over!”

Xisuma followed to New Hermitville. The place was looking gorgeous, with a giant skeleton of an iron golem, scattered poppies growing around it. Smokestacks billowed out of chimneys. It was homey, comforting. Keralis glided down to a shop with a sign over it reading “BAKERY” with a little heart carved into it. 

Keralis led X inside to where a kitchen area was set up, complete with all the materials needed to make chocolate chip cookies, including some extra spare ingredients.

“You’re prepared,” X commented, plucking a rolling pin from the pile of items, “but you don’t really need half of this stuff.”

“I just grabbed whatever seemed useful!” Keralis said sheepishly as X raised an eyebrow at the oregano on the table.

X snickered. “Oh well. Better than not having what we need.”

They started on the cookies, Xisuma mostly taking the lead. He felt in his element here, picking items without even needing to look at a recipe. Keralis poured in a copious (but much appreciated) helping of chocolate chips, and the two started balling up the dough to freeze for an hour before baking.

“It’s best to freeze the dough beforehand so it tastes better,” X explained, a smile glimmering on his face and dancing in his eyes. He hadn’t felt this happy in a while.

“Wow! How do you know so much about making cookies? I never took you for a baker,” Keralis responded, staring at X with big, curious eyes.

X chuckled softly. A feeling of nostalgia bubbled up in his chest. His face slowly fell into a scrunched up expression, trying to remember a memory that seemed just out of reach.

“Y’know what? I don’t think I know why.” Xisuma laughed a little, his mood slowly falling. “Maybe I just am.”

Keralis smiled. “Maybe you’ll remember when we give them to Bubbles!” And that was that.

The two sat down while waiting for the cookies to freeze, enjoying some lemonades that Keralis had earlier prepared. Xisuma stared down at the yellow drink. It was silent.

“Hey, Keralis?”

“Yes, Shishwami?”

Xisuma paused for a second, thinking of exactly what to say. Keralis waited patiently. “Do you.. Remember things?”

“What do you mean?”

“Like… before Hermitcraft. Do you know where you were?”

Keralis hummed, thinking. He finally shook his head. “Not particularly. Bits and pieces, a few memories.. But not much more than that.”

X felt his heart sink a little. “Do you think the others remember where they were?” He asked quietly. 

Keralis shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe I just have an excellent memory.” 

“You forgot Grian’s name last week,” X responded dryly, smiling a little again.

Keralis playfully shoved him. “It’s not my fault he’s new!”

X chuckled. “But, seriously… do you think so?”

“I’m not sure, Shishwami. You’d probably have to ask,” Keralis responded softly. “Is something bothering you?”

X paused, sighing quietly. “Yeah. I… I guess I’m just thinking in the past.” He traced the woodgrain of the chair idly. “I don’t know, it’s dumb. Just bein’ a derp.”

Keralis placed a gentle hand on X’s shoulder. “You aren’t a derp for wanting to know more about yourself. I would feel the same if I were in your situation.”

“It’s weird, not knowing anything about who you used to be. I don’t know where I was, and… if I’m being honest? That… that terrifies me.” His voice was quiet, strained. He didn’t want to start crying in front of Keralis.

“Sounds not fun. But hey! The cookies are almost finished freezing. Do you wanna bake them now?” Keralis asked gently. His eyes asked a different question, one more akin to “should we change the subject?” 

X nodded, smiling softly even though Keralis couldn’t see it through his helmet. “Yeah. I’ll put them in for 12 minutes, then they should be just about done.”

Keralis hummed a little tune while they watched the cookies rise. They looked amazing, X had to admit that, but he couldn’t shake the feeling of familiarity.

They pulled the cookies out of the furnace. It smelled downright heavenly, even through X’s air filters.

The cookies cooled for a few minutes, Keralis staring at them impatiently the whole time. 

X laughed. “You’ve gotta be patient, Keralis.”

“But they look so good! Oh, Bubbles is going to love them!” He reached for one of the cookies, only to have his hand batted away by Xisuma. 

“Patience, young grasshopper,” X said in a mock-old voice, causing Keralis to burst out into laughter. It wasn’t long before Xisuma broke character, dissolving into giggles with the cooling cookies suddenly forgotten.

Keralis wiped a tear from his eye. “You’re too funny, Shishwami. But! We should go get Bubbles to enjoy the cookies before they get too cold!” 

X nodded. “I can go grab him.”

Xisuma walked out and looked around for Bdubs. The man in question was surveying a newly built house, probably made in the time it took to make the cookies.

“Bdubs!” X called, walking over.

“Oh? Oh! Hey Shishwam!” Bdubs met him in the middle of what was labelled the Old Town Road, giving him a quick high-five hug hybrid. “What brings you to New Hermitville?”

“Keralis and I have made a little treat. Come on over to the bakery. The place is looking amazing, by the way,” Xisuma added, leading Bdubs back.

“Oh, stop it, you. What did you two make?”

“You’ll see!” Xisuma grinned. 

The two walked back to where Keralis was waiting with the platter of cookies in hand. 

Bdubs gasped. “Oh, you two are too sweet. A whole plate of cookies, just for lil’ old me.” He took the platter from Keralis, shoving a few cookies into his mouth before either X or Keralis could stop him.

“Hey!” X laughed, grabbing a cookie and ending up smushing it in the process, chocolate getting all over his hand.

Bdubs laughed. “Hah! I cannot be out-cookied! I am the cookie king! Bow-” He was cut off quickly, however, by Keralis shoving a cookie into Bdubs’ mouth and taking the platter with a gremlin laugh.

X ran after him, wiping the chocolate on Bdubs’ shirt as he went past, laughing at the muffled protests. 

Keralis turned around while running, throwing a cookie at X. Bdubs grabbed the plate, causing all the cookies to fall to the ground. Keralis stopped in place, causing Bdubs to fall, and X to run into them both. It wasn’t long before they were all just a laughing mess of limbs on the ground, surrounded by cookies.

At that moment, X had a bit of a realization.

Whatever home used to be for him-whatever he kept wishing he could know more about-didn’t matter anymore. He had a family here in Hermitcraft. That was what mattered.

---

The smell of cookies permeated the castle’s kitchen, drawing Xisuma out of his room. It was still early and he was tired, but eating Mother’s cookies beat sleep any day.

Instead of finding his mother standing in the room, he saw Ex standing on top of a stool, their mother’s apron hanging off of him, covered in flour and sugar. X sighed at his younger brother’s hopeless expression. He couldn’t seem to get the recipe right.

“You freeze it for an hour beforehand, remember?” Xisuma asked, walking up to Ex. “It’ll taste better if you read the recipe properly.”

Ex scrunched up his nose. “You don’t read the recipe.”

“Because I’m older and I know what I’m doing.” X paused, looking at his brother. Ex looked disappointed, crestfallen. He sighed. “I’ll help you. Let me grab my apron,” he said begrudgingly. It was almost worth it to see Ex’s face light up.

Almost.

Chapter Text

Cub stared at the hole in the table. He had been at the HIB HQ for around an hour at this point, trying to find out how and why the mushroom had reacted the way it did.

Obviously, the sap reacted to wood by eating it, so it was most likely acidic. He wasn't about to take out the endstone specimen to do testing, he'd probably get some on his hands and his flesh didn't sound like a good thing to test on.

He grumbled in frustration. "Why can't you be easy?" He asked the mushrooms through the glass. They seemed to have grown again, little spores sprouting out of the holes in the endstone.

They didn't answer. Cub sighed, rubbing his eyes. 

"Maybe we can test on stone. We'll have to try eventually.." he muttered to himself.

"How long have you been in here for?"

Cub jumped at Scar's voice behind him, swivelling around in his chair. 

"Oh. Mornin' Scar. An hour or two, why?"

Scar sat down next to him. "You're gonna go crazy, man. The spores are gonna infect your mind and make you a zombie Cub!" Scar proceeded to imitate whatever zombie Cub would sound like.

Cub chuckled. "If Cleo were here, she'd smack you."

"I could take her," he responded confidently. "Anyway, have you figured anything out?"

"Well, the sap is acidic, probably. We should do tests to see if it'll eat away other substances."

Scar nodded, staring at their specimen. "Hmm. What should we test first?"

Cub grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, writing down in big letters ACID TEST at the top of the page. "Well, we've already done wood. We can get through all the stones, then dirts, then Nether and End substances."

"I'll go grab some stuff to test on." Scar walked off with a little wave goodbye.

Cub wrote down the things that needed to be tested, setting them into the three categories of OVERWORLD, NETHER, and END. 

Scar came back with a few shulker boxes filled to the brim with an assortment of items to test, and the two started on their work.

All the stones they tested-cobble, granite, andesite, diorite, regular-proved to be weak to the sap, along with wood, grass, and some leftover flowers from when the Hippies invaded Area 77.

This seemed to be the norm for every block they tested from the Overworld, so they moved onto Nether.

When they stuck a mushroom over some netherrack and it exploded into sap, however, they found something different.

The sap, previously white, turned black upon contact. It frothed up, sizzling and popping menacingly, but overall destroying the block.

Cub and Scar exchanged a glance. Cub wrote down the development in his notes.

The reaction was pretty much the same for the rest of the Nether blocks they could get their hands on. If anything, the sap made a great incinerator. 

With blocks from the End, they were sadly limited. It wasn't really common to just have endstone and the like on hand, and they couldn't go either because of the portal acting up.

“That’s another thing,” Scar said suddenly, brow furrowing at the dried up acid crusting on the floor. “What the hell is up with the End?”

Cub sighed, shutting his eyes. They had been at the HIB for the majority of the day. His eyelids felt like they were being dragged down by weights. “Not a clue. Let’s handle one mystery at a time, though. I’m too tired to deal with two at once.”

Scar glanced out the window. The sun was beginning to set, and although it looked gorgeous, it was definitely telling of how they were beginning to take the title of hermit too seriously.

“Y’know what? I think we can be done for the day. We’ve been here too long, and we’re running out of shrooms.” Scar stood, stretching his arms.

Cub nodded slowly, squinting at the block of mushrooms. “..Actually, there’s one block we haven’t tested yet from the Overworld.”

“Another one?” Scar asked, exasperation creeping in on his tone. 

“Bedrock.”

Scar stopped, face going blank. He paused. “We’re really dumb. Actually, I’m dumb. You’re a genius, Cub.”

Cub grinned. “Of course I am. Now, should we test on the orb?”

Scar nodded. “Seems easier than going down to bedrock, and hey! Maybe it’ll give us some answers. Maybe it’s all connected.”

Cub stood, grabbing the orb from a nearby shelf and planting it on their testing spot. Scar grabbed a mushroom with some tweezers and the acid bubbled over the bedrock, covering it in seconds.

Shockingly, the acid seemed to start dissolving. It left no new residue on the floor, instead eating up the bedrock entirely and leaving a small piece of paper.

Scar and Cub exchanged an intrigued glance before Scar got up and picked it up.

He squinted at the paper. “It’s in Galactic. What..?”

Cub shrugged, resting an arm on Scar’s shoulder. “We can worry about that later. We’re finally getting somewhere!”

Scar shoved the paper in his pocket, too caught up in the excitement to notice the purple spores now growing on his wrist.

---

Xisuma sat in bed. He was in bed a lot lately, wasn’t he? Didn’t he have things he needed to do?

He closed his eyes, rattling off a mental checklist of all the things he needed to work on. IDEA, Tower Bay, fixing the End portal issue…

He hadn’t been out of his base in at least a day, maybe more. He just felt so tired, the feeling sinking and settling in his bones without warning. He hugged his blanket. It felt too cold.

He could hear rain outside, the sound of droplets hitting prismarine all too telling of the rotten weather. He sat up, rubbing his eyes and putting on his helmet. His breaths were shorter lately. 

“Better deal with the End first,” he muttered to himself, trying to conjure up the motivation to stand. Finally, he got to his feet, clinging to the wall as if it were made out of slime blocks.

X flew over to the Stronghold. He needed the exercise anyway, and the Nether felt like too much at that moment.

As he landed into the Stronghold, a feeling of foreboding washed over him. He took an instinctive step back, brow furrowing and hand moving towards his sword. He shouldn’t have felt like that, though. The place was well lit up, and usually a friendly familiarity to X in particular. What the hell?

Just to be safe, he kept a hand on the hilt of his sword as he walked through the stone hallways. As he began nearing the portal room, every bit of his common sense was screaming at him to run as far away as he could and never look back.

He shut his eyes, counting backwards from ten. Stop freaking out. Why would there be anything weird? You’ve been here a million times. The End is great. To which his self-preservation instinct responded with blind panic.

X went forward, however, ignoring the protests and pleas from the back of his head. He trudged on into the portal room, stopping suddenly in the doorway, jumping at something in the corner of his vision.

He could have sworn he saw a woman with dragon horns and wings, looking at him with a sly smile, but when he looked in the lady’s direction he saw nothing but mossy stone bricks.

He exhaled shakily, forcing himself to look at the portal.

It seemed mostly normal, except for little- familiar- mushrooms growing out of the sides, and the fact that he immediately got nervous upon looking at it, his thoughts immediately dissolving into a stream of no.

This… might be harder than he originally thought.

He wrenched an eye of ender from the portal frame, dropping it on the floor and stomping on it. It shattered into a million pieces, along with the portal’s link to the End.

“Temporary fix, but should be good enough for now,” X muttered to nobody in particular. He walked out of the Stronghold as quickly as he could, pressing down questions and this new nervousness squirming under his skin, burning like lightning.

These were all questions for another day, though. X felt tired again. He sighed against the wind, gliding into his base. He felt so restless, yet so weak at the same time.

Oh well.

Chapter Text

[Main Chat]

 Renthedog: you guys better get ready for this BEACH BOD

 MumboJumbo: What beach bod?

 Docm77: LOL 

 Renthedog: youre one to talk moustache man

 ZombieCleo: Don’t worry guys! None of you have beach bods

Grian: omg

Xisuma stared blearily at the com in his hand. It was early in the morning, the main chat blowing up about… something. X didn’t really know what they were talking about.

  Xisumavoid: I’m sorry, what are we talking about?

 Docm77: Oh hey X! 

 Docm77: Cleo is just roasting everyone

 MumboJumbo: Did you forget that we’re all heading to the beach today? Or are you not going or something?

 Xisuma: Oh yeah. I’m going, just forgot. Sorry!

 RentheDog: no worries man! 

X sighed, sitting up. Of course today was beach day. The Hermits always tried to get together at least once a month, and with the whole Ex fiasco at the meteor shower, they had all planned a bit of a do-over when the weather cleared up. 

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to go, he did, but the thought of hanging out with the hermits again filled him up with dread for some reason. He opted to ignore it. It’ll be fine. Once you’re there you’ll have a good time. 

He got to his feet, starting to look for a towel.

---

Joe stood in front of his pumpkin patch in the Halloween District, smiling proudly at his work. It was shaping up to be a beauty. As his eyes danced over the skyline, however, he noticed two particular ConCorp members gliding down to see him.

“Howdy, Scar and Cub!” He called.

“Howdy!” Cub called back. The pair landed. They wore matching suits with sunglasses and fake earpieces. Joe raised an eyebrow.

“We’ve come for assistance,” Scar said professionally, hands clasped behind his back.

“O...kay? Whaddya need that requires the getup?”

“This happens to be an official HIB investigation matter,” Cub said. He ditched the professionalism and propped his glasses up on his head, grinning excitedly.

“Cub! We’re supposed to be professional about this!” Scar whispered. Cub rolled his eyes. “Ahem. Anyway, We have a piece of evidence in Galactic that we’d like to be translated.”

Joe sighed. “Show it to me.” 

They handed him a slip of paper written in a familiar purple hand. He squinted at the paper, growing a bit more confused with every word.

“It says ‘your brothers and I miss you dearly. Surely you wouldn’t mind a push back?’” He read it out, handing back the paper. “But.. isn’t this just another part of that prank X found a while back? He had a paper similar to this one.” The glance Cub and Scar exchanged obviously proved something strange was afoot. “Oh well. Hope to see y’all at the beach this afternoon. I’ll be walking over aftersoon.” He added in the bit of a rhyme to try and lighten the mood. It didn’t work.

“Thanks for your help. And… this didn’t happen.” Scar winked over his sunglasses, and the two flew away.

Huh. Weird.

---

Even though X was originally dreading the experience, the beach near the Pirate District sure was lovely. A random parrot or two flew overhead, ships floated above water in the distance, and fish swam about with zero care in the world.

A few people weren’t there yet-Cub and Scar, for example-but those who were were all enjoying their time in the sun. Most of them, anyway.

X sat under an umbrella, watching people swim and have fun. He hugged his knees to his chest a bit tighter as Doc walked over and sat down next to him.

“Not gonna swim?” Doc asked.

“Ah, probably not. Not feelin’ up to it.” He smiled gently.

Doc nodded in understanding. “I get that. But hey! You should. Mumbo brought a few surfboards. I’ll surf if you do.” He nudged X with his elbow, grinning.

X sighed dramatically, smiling wider now. “Oh, fine. It’ll be fun to watch you wipe out.”

“You wish!” Doc laughed, standing. He helped X to his feet, and the pair walked over to the pile of surfboards next to the water.

Mumbo was already surfing, Grian flying above and trying to pour a bucket of water on his head. Mumbo was the only one who actually knew how to surf properly, and had tried to teach the other hermits before, to which they responded with by not paying attention to any of his lessons.

X actually had tried to listen to Mumbo’s half-hearted lessons on surfing and knew the basic idea, but it wasn’t like he was good. He swam out from shore, Doc a few yards away giving him a big thumbs up. 

It wasn’t long before a wave started heading towards them. A big one, too-bigger than all the waves that they had previously seen. X shakily got to his feet on the board and started gliding across the water, albeit a bit slowly.

The wave started getting bigger, and X got more and more clumsy. He tried his best, but ended up slipping off the board and plunging into the water below.

Saltwater began filling up his lungs as he swam to the surface, eyes shut against the water around him. He gasped, bobbing up and down with the tide, seeing Doc still surfing the wave and laughing in his direction. However, this was soon to be ended, because Doc too lost his balance and plopped into the water with a resounding splash.

Xisuma laughed loudly, full of mirth. Water dripped from his bangs, half obstructing Doc’s head popping out of the water. His cyborg half was now letting out sparks, so he swam to shore. X followed, smiling and laughing like he had never before.

Doc pulled a little bag of redstone dust from his knapsack on the shore, opening his arm and pouring some in. 

“Eh, should be good enough,” Doc said, turning to X with a giant, toothy grin. “You totally wiped out before me! I win!”

“Hey! Nobody said it was a competition!” Xisuma punched him playfully in the arm, laughing.

“Psh. You’re just saying that ‘cause you lost!” 

Xisuma chuckled as Doc waved goodbye, walking over to join the volleyball game a few hermits had set up. Xisuma sat back down under his umbrella, mood significantly and successfully brightened.

After a few minutes, Grian walked over, sitting down next to him.

“Hey, Grian, what’s up?”

“Oh y’know. General mischief.” Grian grinned evilly. The smile quickly faded, though, transforming into a look of concern. “But, ah.. I wanted to ask you a question. And, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, but..” His eyes drifted back to the water, seemingly avoiding X’s gaze. “..What happened to your back?”

Xisuma raised an eyebrow, laughing awkwardly. “..I’m sorry?”

“The… the two scars. Of course, you really don’t need to answer if it’s a touchy subject-believe me, I know-but I-”

“Grian. I’ve got no clue what you’re talking about.”

Grian bit his lip, taking his communicator off his wrist and taking a picture of Xisuma’s back. X stared at the picture for a few seconds in shock.

Two scars, leading from about the middle of his shoulderblades down to his mid-back were in the shot. They were deep, and looked like they had been there for a while. 

He placed a hand over his mouth. “I.. I didn’t actually know those were there,” he said quietly, blinking a few times.

His good mood dissipated like a sandcastle under waves. Grian deleted the picture, giving him an uncomfortable but sympathetic look. 

“You alright, man?”

X nodded. “I.. I think I’m gonna go home. Must’ve… pulled a muscle while surfing. Or… or something.”

Grian placed a gentle hand on his shoulder before getting up and waving goodbye. X stood, grabbing his bag and the extra elytra he brought and whizzing away.

X was wasting rockets, using far too many for the ride back. He couldn’t seem to care though, finding the only motivation for doing so was the need to be away from everyone else. He shuddered, even though it was warm. The weather was so perfect, so impossibly pleasant, especially in contrast to how cold he felt.

He glided down into his base, feeling a few buzzes on his com as he landed. He glanced at it, seeing new messages from Joe.

 [Private Message with JoeHillsTSD]

 JoeHillsTSD: hey, where did you leave in such a hurry?

 JoeHillsTSD: oh also, i think cub and scar found an addition to that ‘prank paper’ you showed me a while back.

 JoeHillsTSD: said something about “your brothers miss you” or something?

Xisuma’s eyes widened at the com, his heart sinking. He didn’t respond to the messages, turning off the com and silencing it, then ripping it off his wrist and tossing it across the room. Luckily, it didn’t break, but he couldn’t find the means to care about that.

Tears threatened to pool in his eyes, panic blooming in his chest. How did they find another note?

He took a few deep breaths, trying to steady himself on legs that now felt like jelly. For a second of humor, he wondered if this was what Jevin felt like all the time. He laughed aloud, but it had no happiness behind it. Just a nervous energy, crackling around in the undertones of his voice, waiting to be unleashed.

He decided to go see Cub and Scar himself. 

Reluctantly, he crept over to his com on the floor, relieved by the fact it hadn’t shattered like he felt he had. He picked it up, typing a little question, something along the lines of “where are you?” to Scar.

Scar responded with “The HIB HQ, of course!” X shoved the com in a random chest. He didn’t feel that he would need it.

X put on his helmet and a fresh change of his armor, equipping his elytra and going through the Nether (feeling like a literal hell- although , he thought, that’s pretty much what the Nether’s supposed to be. ) and flying through Hermitville and Hermitland and Area77, reaching the fated base. 

X skidded to a halt outside of the door, not even realizing how fast he had been flying before trying to land. He knocked on the door a few times, taking in deep breaths and trying desperately to keep a level head.

Cub opened the door, face brightening when he saw Xisuma.

“Oh, hey X! Wanna come on in?”

X nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

He was lead into the main part of the base, where a large corkboard had been set up with pictures of things and pages upon pages of notes pinned up. Scar sat on the floor, staring at a stain that seemed to have been previously eating away at the concrete.

Scar didn’t notice them at first, scribbling down notes, chewing the end of his pencil. It wasn’t until Cub loudly cleared his throat that Scar looked up and noticed them.

“Oh! Hi!” He said, setting down his notepad and standing. “What’s up, X?”

“What have the two of you been up to in here?” X asked, eyes darting around the room.

“Just figuring out the latest mysteries of Hermitcraft! Currently we’re working on-” Cub was cut off by Scar elbowing him. “-Top secret business that we’re not allowed to talk about.” 

Xisuma nodded. “Well, Joe told me you two found a note about something?”

Scar took out a crumpled piece of paper, handing it to X. To his dismay, it was in the same handwriting as the first note. He grimaced.

“What does it say?”

“‘your brothers and I miss you dearly. Surely you wouldn’t mind a push back?’ It’s really weird,” Cub responded. “We still haven’t figured that one out.”

Xisuma pursed his lips, nodding, eyes drifting to the corner of the room, where a portion of the table seemed to have a box covered by a bunch of fabric on it. “Uh huh. And where did you find it?”

“It was in a little ball of bedrock that Cub found-”

“I’m sorry, what?”

Scar blinked rapidly, surprised by Xisuma’s sudden frantic tone. “...Uh, a ball of polished bedrock. Cub said Python found it in Tower Bay, or something like that.”

“Where did you put the ball?” X asked, a sense of dread and panic clouding his thoughts.

“...Well, that’s the thing. We had to destroy it to find the note-”

“ How the hell did you destroy bedrock?” X was half-shouting at this point.

“Xisuma, calm down. I know you said not to touch those mushrooms in Hermitland, but we took a portion for science and they emit this acid when touched that destroys everything we’ve tested so far, and that ball is how we tested bedrock! The note came out of it, so win-win I guess?” Scar laughed, albeit a bit nervously. X usually never got angry.

X took a deep breath in. His attempts at composure had slipped out of his grasp. “What in the ever-loving hell made you think that was a good idea? Any of that?” He asked quietly, voice shaking.

Scar’s brow furrowed. He frowned. “Those mushrooms could hurt someone. We’re just figuring things out. Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Yes! It is! But you’re sticking your noses into things that are dangerous! You could get hurt!”

“But we’re figuring out the mysteries! Why are you so vehement about keeping this to yourself? What, do you have something to do with this?” Scar argued, voice raising. Cub shifted uncomfortably, grabbing onto Scar’s arm in a feeble attempt to get him to back down. It didn’t work.

“ I DON’T FUCKING KNOW!” Xisuma shouted, tears suddenly pooling in his eyes. “I have no clue why I care so goddamn much about this!” 

Scar’s face fell, anger shifting to confusion. “Xisuma, I-”

“ No. Don’t even fucking try to make this better. You… you’re messing with things I know you shouldn’t be.” He laughed once, void of any emotion. “I mean, hell, you practically destroyed the one link I have to my past.” His eyes met Scar’s. 

The regret Scar felt weighed down like, well, bedrock. He tried to speak again, but no words came out.

“I hope you’re happy. I hope you’re satisfied with this mystery,” X finished coldly, storming off.

Scar weakly tried to follow, being held back by Cub.

“Scar. Just… let him deal with this for a little,” he murmured.

Scar nodded, turning to Cub. There were tears in his eyes. “We… we screwed up, didn’t we?”

---

Xisuma was flying, the wind whipping past his face feeling like daggers against his skin. He didn’t know where he was heading. He just needed to be anywhere but here.

The wind seemed to take him to the Stronghold. He let it, plunging through the water and into the labyrinth, gasping for breath and leaning against a wall.

He was still crying, tears rolling down his cheeks. Why am I crying? He asked himself. There was no response.

Frustration and exhaustion seemed to blend together, settling in his system. He wandered to the End portal room.

The portal was lit again. Huh. That doesn’t seem right. There was a sliver of desperation in the back of his mind, begging him to leave. To go back to his friends, to surf and play volleyball and eat hotdogs while laughing along with the other hermits. He ignored it.

A louder voice countered his ignorance. It was Ex’s, the warning that he had given a while back, a time that felt like ages ago. X shuddered at the thought. 

He shut his eyes, blocking out the warnings, and taking a step forward. The little Ex in the back of his head screamed louder, trying to will him away. He trudged forward, jumping straight into the cold, static portal.

Chapter Text

Joe frowned at his com. No notifications were popping up, no responses to his texts shot Xisuma’s way. Maybe he shot too far, or not far enough. It had been around an hour, and X usually responded pretty quickly, carrying around his com everywhere like it was a stack of diamonds.

“Joe, I’d expect you to be lecturing another hermit on not using their com so much, not having your face buried in one.” Cleo sat down next to him. 

Joe smiled. “Howdy, Cleo. And, I’m just a bit worried about Xisuma. He hasn’t responded to my messages. Not to mention the fact that Scar and Cub haven’t even shown up yet..”

“They’re probably just scamming X out of some diamonds, him being too preoccupied to respond. Don’t worry too much. I’ll drag you to the volleyball game if I have to,” she shoved him playfully. 

Joe sighed, smiling despite his anxiousness. “Fine. How many diamonds do you think X is losing right now?”

Cleo laughed. “A million. He’s gonna be bankrupt by tomorrow.”

The pair laughed, getting up and starting their walk over to where a few hermits were playing volleyball. Maybe this would be alright.

---

The nervous energy in the HIB HQ was practically unbearable. 

Scar had been pacing for the past 20 minutes. Cub was sitting in a wheely chair, tapping his fingers against the armrests and trying to read a random book they had on hand. He kept zoning out though, unable to think about anything but X. 

Cub bit his lip, trying to ignore the guilt he felt. I shouldn’t have taken that bedrock orb.

“I think we should apologize,” Scar said suddenly, wringing his hands and looking at Cub with desperate eyes. “I know you said we should wait but it’s been a while, and I just…” he gestured helplessly.

Cub nodded, getting to his feet. “Yeah. We… we really should.”

Scar stood close to Cub as he typed in a “Where are you?” in a private message with X. 

They waited a few minutes. No response.

Scar fidgeted. “He’s probably still mad. Do you think he’s in his base?”

“Probably. He usually is.” Cub paused. “...Is this a good idea?”

“I don’t know. I’ve… I’ve never seen him that angry. Or sad. Or… emotional in general, really.” Scar bit his lip. “We need to apologize, though.”

Cub nodded, exhaling sharply. “Yeah. Yeah. Let’s check his base.”

Scar couldn’t deny that he was terrified. Xisuma was always so mild-mannered, never getting angry enough to yell, especially not like that. It was so jarring to see him yell. To see him cry. Xisuma never cried.

They went through the Nether and into Xisuma’s main base, creeping through the portal and looking around. Xisuma wasn’t anywhere to be seen. 

Cub took a quick look around the base, seeing nothing out of the ordinary other than a cold cup of tea that seemed to be a few days old. He wrinkled his nose, walking back to Scar who was awkwardly hovering at the Nether portal.

“Not here. Maybe he’s at Tower Bay?” 

Scar nodded slowly. “Probably.”

The two went over to Tower Bay. They combed through each tower and the area dug into the side of the hill. No X.

Cub frowned at the Bay, raising an eyebrow in thought. Where else does Xisuma spend his time? His guilt about the whole situation increased when he realized that he didn’t know. The End? No, portal’s down. Shopping district, maybe, but what would he be doing? Restocking? Doesn’t seem likely…

“Cub? You doing alright?”

Cub blinked out of his thoughts, turning to Scar. “Yeah. Just… thinking.”

“Let’s call Joe. Maybe he went back to the beach?” Scar suggested, turning on his com.

They started a call, the cheerful music playing before Joe picked up an unwelcome and irritating tone giving the situation.

“Howdy, Scar. Is everything alright?” Joe greeted, his usual calm and happy tone replaced with a stressed one.

“Everything’s okay. Uh, Cub’s with me, too, by the way. Is… is Xisuma with you guys at the beach?”

There was a pause. 

“...Joe?”

“No, he’s not here. I thought he went back to his base?”

Cub and Scar exchanged a glance. “We already checked, along with Tower Bay, just in case. Any idea where he could be?” Cub asked.

“He hasn’t been responding to my messages, so I’ve got no clue. What happened?” Joe asked.

Cub shut his eyes. “Long story. He seemed pretty pissed, though.”

“Let’s just give it a day. He probably just… went off the island to cool off for a bit. He’ll probably be back in the morning, and then we can talk about it or something,” Joe said, although he still sounded uneasy.

Scar nodded. “Okay. Thanks, Joe. Hope you’re all having a good time at the beach.”

“You two can still come over, y’know. It’s not too late.”

“Thanks, but I think we’re a little tired. Bye.” Scar ended the call before Joe could respond, Looking at Cub. “We’re totally finding out where he is, right?”

“Most definitely.” Cub paused. “...Is that really a good idea, though? Last time we tried to figure out a mystery, well.” He gestured helplessly. “That’s what started all this.”

Scar nodded. “I… I don’t know. But if he doesn’t show up tomorrow, I think it’s safe to assume something’s wrong.”

“Okay. Let’s wait, and if he doesn’t show up in the next 24 hours then we can take action.” Cub smiled gently, placing a hand on Scar’s shoulder. “Everything’ll be fine.”

Scar sighed quietly, managing to smile back. “I hope you’re right.”

---

Being in the Void is kind of like living in a sensory deprivation tank, Ex thought. Obviously, not when you’re being tortured. Villapura seemed to be merciful lately, though. She had been showing up less and less to Ex’s little portion of the Void.

Usually, since the Void was so full of nothingness, it was easy to sense the presence of another. He could always sense when Villapura was coming. The energy he was feeling today, though, wasn’t one he had felt in a long time.

Another person had just entered. Someone familiar.

Ex had been acquainted with Xisuma’s energies before, in a similar manner to this. Except back then he was leaving, and for good reason too. 

Xisuma was an idiot. Ex tried not to insult his brother, but he was so painfully stupid sometimes. It was on brand, though. He was always a bit of a derp. He wished that he could have just listened for once and stayed in Hermitcraft. He wished that Xisuma didn’t have to have the same-or worse-fate that Ex was experiencing.

Not if I can save him, though.

He would have smiled if he were strong enough. If Villapura were preoccupied enough with Xisuma, then he could work up enough strength to fix it. To save his brother. 

It’ll be different now. It has to be. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost another brother.

---

Xisuma sat in the garden, staring at the tall statue in the middle of the area. It was his favorite place of the palace, always so peaceful. The statue of his mother looked beautiful as ever, made out of a black material.

His mother placed a hand on his shoulder from behind. He gasped in surprise, having not realized there was anyone in the garden.

“I didn’t mean to scare you, dear. What are you looking at?” She asked kindly.

“Your statue,” X responded. He grabbed at bits of grass. It was from the Overworld, or at least that’s what his mom had told him back when the garden was first introduced to him.

“Ah, the statue. Do you think it looks like me?” She walked in front of him, mimicking the dramatic pose that the statue displayed.

Xisuma giggled. “Not at all. You never make that pose.”

His mother laughed, sitting down next to him. “I’m glad you’re enjoying the garden, love. It was made for you, after all. My little heir.” She pinched his cheek.

Xisuma forced a laugh. He hated it when she talked about that. He changed the subject. “Tell me what the statue is made of again?”

“Bedrock. It exists in both the Nether and Overworld, but not in the End, if you remember your lessons correctly. Normal people can’t mine it or carve it. That’s what makes it special.” She smiled. 

“I like it,” X said. “It’s pretty.”

His mother smiled. “Well then, you’ll love the gift I have for you today.” She called over a guard standing at the doorway leading into the palace, the enderman teleporting over and holding out a small, purple box.

Xisuma took it, opening the box. Inside was a bedrock orb. 

He smiled at it, taking it out and testing the weight in his hands. It was bigger than both of his hands combined, but he still loved it.

“Thank you, mom. I like it a lot.”

She placed a hand on his shoulder, smiling. “I’m glad.” She stood. “Now. Remember to be back inside before dinner, and don’t play in the mud. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

She waved goodbye, walking back inside before saying something to one of the guards.

Xisuma wasn’t sure if he was lying or not when he said he loved her.

Chapter Text

Xisuma’s eyes opened slowly. Tiredness sapped at his limbs, and the bed under him was so soft and warm…

Wait a second. Bed?

X sat up slowly, looking around. He was in a room, a nice, familiar room, decorated in a neat manner. Banners and poorly-made drawings hung on the wall, little shelves weighed down by knick-knacks and trinkets of all kinds. A wilted flower sat on a desk. 

The room was very… purple. Purple and black. Too neat to be lived in. Xisuma rubbed his eyes a few times, trying to remember the events that lead up to this. Or maybe it was a dream. He couldn’t tell.

He thought back to the beach, and talking with Cub and Scar, and getting angry, and then… jumping through the End portal. 

He pinched himself to be sure it wasn’t a dream. Instead of waking up at the stronghold, he stayed in the strange bedroom.

Okay then. Not a dream. Where the hell am I?

X got to his feet, knees dangerously wobbly. He felt terribly tired, but answers were more important than rest. 

He poked around the room for a bit. In the desk drawers, he found a diary. It was written in Galactic, though. Nothing else of interest seemed to be around, other than what seemed to be a family portrait.

In the portrait, a tall woman stood with three boys. The oldest looked like him, if he were being honest. The other two boys weren’t as recognizable, one with white hair and the other with black. The family wore regal clothing and each had a small crown, adorned by black jewels.

Xisuma risked cracking open the door. Outside, two endermen in armor stood, staring off into space. 

X gasped quietly. The endermen turned to look at him.

“Uh. Hello there. Could either of you tell me where I am?”

The endermen stared. He averted his eyes.

“Right. Can’t talk. Can you even understand me?” 

One of the endermen grabbed onto his hand. He glanced up to see it looking at him intently. He shifted uncomfortably. 

“...I’m gonna go. Sorry to bother you,” he mumbled, pulling his hand away as gently as he could. The two bowed at him. He gave an awkward thumbs up and walked off as fast as he could.

The hallway had a nice, purple carpet and paintings dotting the walls. Sconces emitting a lilac light lit it up nicely.

Xisuma felt terribly small. He wrung his hands, eyes darting about, hand reaching for where his sword should have been, quickly realizing that none of his items had stayed with him. He was beginning to regret leaving his com at his base.

He turned through a hallway, seeing something new: an entrance to a garden. 

The garden was gorgeous, surrounded by purple walls with no ceiling. Soft, Overworld grass covered the area, a little pond rested in the corner, and a giant statue of the same lady from the pictures made of bedrock stood in the middle.

It was painfully familiar. 

He walked out into the garden, hands brushing over rose bushes. It brought a smile to his face, although he couldn’t tell why. 

It was lovely, but nothing was thriving. It was like a time capsule, a chunk of earth frozen. Nothing lived in it. No bugs crawled about, no frogs jumped into the pond, nothing.

More endermen stood at the doorway, he realized as he walked back to do more exploring. He hadn’t even noticed them, subconsciously tuning them out. 

“Oh. Hi there,” he said awkwardly, managing a smile. The endermen bowed. “You don’t need to do that, I’m not like a king or anything.” He laughed at his own joke. The endermen just stared at him. 

Xisuma just gave a quick wave goodbye and walked off. How strange.

He could smell something delicious in the direction of what he assumed to be a kitchen. Cookies, maybe? Who was making cookies?

He walked in the direction of the smell, albeit a bit cautiously. This place seemed too nice to be real.

It wasn’t long before he came up to a doorway. He peeked through cautiously, seeing the same woman from the statue and paintings baking. She had her back to the door, and was humming a tune. She wore a flowy dress, two dragon wings folded on her back. 

She stopped in her humming, going still. Xisuma tightened his grip on the doorway. She turned to look at him, expression emotionless for a few seconds.

She brightened, clapping her hands together. “Xisuma! You’re awake. Readjusting to the castle well?”

“...I’m sorry, this is probably a bad time, but who are you? And where am I?” Xisuma asked, staying in the doorway.

The lady’s white eyes narrowed slightly, her smile unchanging. “I’m your mother, of course. You’re home.”

“...Home?”

“Yes, dear. Home. It’s been so long, hasn’t it? Here, come help me with breakfast. I’m making your favorite: chocolate chip pancakes!”

Ah. It wasn’t cookies then. How did she know that I like those?

He made the executive decision to stay wary of his supposed mother. He walked over next to her. 

She smiled gently. “I’ll grab your apron. It might be a little small though, you haven’t used it in a while.” She walked over to a rack where a few aprons were hanging and plucked one away. It was blue with an orange pocket. 

He reluctantly put it on. She was right, it was far too short, but he didn’t mention that. This didn’t seem right.

They made the pancakes, Xisuma working off of muscle memory. It was quiet, the sizzling of pancake batter the only sound in the kitchen.

It felt… nice.

“So,” his ‘mother’ began, “you really don’t remember anything?”

He shook his head. “Nothing. Things feel familiar, but I don’t know why.” He paused. “I’ve got a lot of questions.”

She smiled. “I’m sure you do, dear. Everything will be explained in time.” She flipped a pancake. “You can ask away for now, though.”

X had thought about a moment like this one hundreds of times before. Late at night he would wonder what his parents were like. If they were still alive. What he was like as a child. Usually in these scenarios, he had thousands of questions he wanted to ask. At this moment in time, his dreams finally being fulfilled, his mind blanked. All he could think to do was laugh once, quietly under his breath.

“Take your time, dear. You always had a struggle with finding the right words when you were younger.” She smiled, pouring another glob of pancake batter.

X felt his eyes begin to water. A tsunami of emotions crashed in on his heart, washing away any and all things he wanted to say in an instant. He swallowed, blinking rapidly. Oh god why is this happening-

She rested a hand on his shoulder. “Pancakes are done, dear. After we eat, you can spend some time resting. I know that going through portals can be tiring.”

As soon as she said this, X felt his energy beginning to deteriorate. He nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Maybe a minute of peace would do me some good. I need to be less vulnerable.

An enderman walked in just as the pair sat down, going over to X’s mother and saying something incoherent. Her smile tightened. 

“Ah, dear. Apologies, but it seems I have some matters that need attending. I trust you to find your way back to your room once you’re done. If you can’t, just ask a guard. I love you.” She hugged him tightly, walking away briskly without another word.

X inhaled sharply. He hadn’t had a hug in a while. Not since the day he baked cookies with Keralis. Thinking on the happy memory made him set his guard up, putting a wall around his emotions made of a thick, mental concrete. 

It seemed, however, that the concrete was set with sugar, for as X ate some of the pancakes (he felt like he hadn’t eaten in decades ), his mind slowly softened to the idea of staying. Not for forever, of course, just long enough to get some answers. To enjoy seeing family. He yawned, feeling suddenly more tired than before. It wouldn’t be hard to believe that in his drowsiness he was just imagining that the pancakes seemed to smell a bit like mushrooms, right?

---

The clock mounted on the wall of the HIB read 5:34 AM. 26 minutes until Scar and Cub were allowed to start their investigation looking for Xisuma. 

Cub had fallen asleep hours ago, leaving Scar alone with a cup of coffee and Jellie to pet. He was positively restless. It felt impossible to sleep when a friend-especially one you hurt-could be in danger.

Scar examined the bandage on his wrist. It seemed to have gotten infected by something, maybe a loose potion of poison. Nothing he was worried about.

Throughout the day, Scar had thought he was set on this case. Why wouldn’t he be? It was Xisuma. It was his friend. 

He had doubts, though. 

It was a possibility that X didn’t want to be found. It was a possibility that he was still mad and needed the time away. It was a possibility that Scar was overreacting, and by doing so he’d ruin another friendship.

He bit his lip. This was a horrible idea. If X weren’t fine, he’d call.

Scar nudged Cub awake.

“Mh. Five more minutes,” Cub muttered, burying his face into his lab coat.

“Cub. I’m calling off the investigation.”

“Okay…” Cub mumbled, slowly coming fully into consciousness. “Wait, what? What time is it? Is X back??”

“No, just…” Scar sighed. “I’m worried we’re gonna fuck it all up again. If X wanted to be found, he would be. Let’s… let’s just give him some time.”

Cub raised an eyebrow, resting a comforting hand on Scar’s arm. “...Alright, if you say so.”

Scar smiled gently. This was fine. Everything was going to be fine.

---

Ex shut his eyes, breathing in and out. In and out. It was easy to focus on breathing when it was the only sound around for miles. 

Conducting up enough power to escape was difficult, and sure as hell hard enough the last time. God, Xisuma. Why do I have to save you all the time?

In and out. In and out. He felt the energy flow through his veins, resting in his fingertips and dancing under his skin. It dissipated as quickly as it appeared, though, leaving him empty. Leaving him numb. 

He tried again, and again and again and again. His head throbbed and his hands felt like they had just spent hours carrying boulders, but they could move now. No longer were they locked in place.

He felt a bit of happiness bubble up through his exhaustion at the progress. Just a little more like this and I can save him. 

The good mood quickly dissipated, however, as Villapura’s chilly energy made itself known in his prison.

“Hello, darling.” Villapura walked past him, pacing about in the Void around them. “Having Xisuma back is becoming more of an issue than I thought it would be. He doesn’t remember anything, all thanks to you.”

Ex stared at her, trying to muster an expression that didn’t display the malice and hatred he felt. 

“Ugh. You’re just like talking to the guards. Anyway, just thought you’d like to know that Xisuma is loving his time here. I sent him to bed before coming down with a little… push.” She smiled darkly. “If you’ll excuse me, I have other matters that need attending. A guard will come by soon to give you your punishment for today.” She turned on her heel and left.

Always explaining the schedule to me like I’m two. Ex rolled his eyes.

All he could do for now was wait, and pray to the Universe that Xisuma would hold on a little longer.

Chapter Text

The enderman that Villapura spoke of never came. Ex had been alone for days, weeks… he couldn’t tell at this point. His limbs ached, eyes stained with tears, determination unwavering as he made more and more progress on his escape.

He was almost there, almost to the point where he could get back to Hermitcraft when he felt Villapura’s presence again. Panic flooded his senses, fresh tears springing to his eyes. If she caught him, he’d never leave again.

She was fast approaching on his pocket of the Void. Ex had to act quickly.

He shut his eyes, breathing in and out in slow, heavy breaths. Magic began crackling and popping around him like a fire, light seemingly excreting from his skin, pooling out of his eyes and mouth. 

Villapura had seen him now. Her usual pleasant expression was replaced by fury. She was running at him, screaming, shouting as loud as she could for him to stop. 

Ex clenched his fists. It felt like he had been encased in iron, heat melting away the shackle, peeling away at his will. He yelled out in the pain of it all, raising his arms to be in front of him to keep her away. She reached for him, an outstretched hand to tear him away. She was too late, however. Ex disappeared into thin air.

Ex shut his eyes again, feeling wind suddenly whip past his face. He was falling again. 

Suddenly, he wasn’t falling anymore. Shards of glass shattered around him as he crashed into the earth, losing consciousness on impact.

---

[Private message with Grian and Xisuma]

Grian: hey man! I wanted to know when you’d stock up your emerald shop next? Youre all out

Grian: X?? You there?

Grian: Xisuma

It had been a few hours since Grian had sent the messages, gaining no response from the usually punctual admin. He thought briefly about asking someone, but he didn’t know who to ask, so he made the decision to check X’s base to see if he was just sleeping in or something.

His unease increased, however, when he saw the crater in the middle of X’s base, and then the person curled up at the bottom.

He quickly flew down, getting a better look at the person in question. He was a man with long, white hair tied up with a red scrunchie wearing a black tunic button up thing and black pants. It looked almost formal, like he was a prince. 

He was covered in glass, pieces sticking out of his arms. His face was covered in scars, and he was trying to breathe but hyperventilating.

Grian rushed down into the crater, shaking the man awake. 

“Hey! Hey, buddy, it’s okay. It’s okay. You’re probably new? You can calm down, it’s alright,” Grian said in the most comforting tone he could muster.

The man tried to breathe in, resulting in a cough. He gestured at his face and neck, continuing to cough.

“Can… can you not breathe?” The man nodded urgently. “Holy shit. Uh, I think X has an extra helmet around here somewhere…” Grian got to his feet, rushing around in search of the helmet. He found it hanging in the storage room, running back to the mysterious man and handing it to him. 

He put it on, slowly breathing normally. He shook ever so slightly, tears pricking at his eyes.

“I’m Grian,” Grian said awkwardly. “We should probably get you cleaned up.”

“X has a first aid kit in the storage room, third barrel on the right. I don’t really have time for this, Grian.” The man said, voice trembling and quiet.

“Time to get healed up? We have health potions, you know. Are… are you okay?” Grian asked, helping him up.

The man leaned into the touch as if he hadn’t seen another person in years. He limped along with Grian to the storage room, Grian grabbing a few potions of healing.

“Look, I really can’t stay. Do you know how to get out of here? Or… get a communicator? This is urgent,” The man said after regaining a bit of strength.

Grian nodded slowly. “Tell me what you’re doing in X’s base and I’ll fly you out.”

“I landed in here. Please let me out.”

“Fair. What’s your name?”

The man paused. “...If I tell you, you won’t help me.”

Grian snorted. “You’re ridiculous. Tell me.”

“Evil Xisuma,” he mumbled, barely audible.

“What was that?”

“Evil Xisuma! Are you happy?” Ex asked, irritation seeping into his tone.

Grian smiled. “Yes, in fact. I thought you got banned, though?”

“I came back.” Ex stood, then proceeded to stumble straight into Grian.

“Chill out, dude. You’re a little woozy, rest for a bit-”

“I can’t!” He shouted suddenly, tears appearing in his eyes once more. “I can’t do that. X… X is in danger and I need to save him,” he said a bit quieter.

Grian stared at Ex for a few seconds. His eyes were bloodshot, wet from tears, sunken into his face. His hands shook slightly. He looked like he’d dissolve if a strong gust of wind came by.

“If Xisuma is in danger, you can only save him when you’re at your best. Get some rest, dude. X has a bed over here.” Grian helped him up with an encouraging smile.

“I shouldn’t. I need to save him.” Ex tried to pull away, but in his state he was too weak to resist. Grian practically carried him to Xisuma’s bed, and almost as soon as he hit the mattress he fell asleep.

---

Ex wandered down the purple hallway, hand brushing against the walls. It was a particularly cold morning, but as he made his way to where the garden was he could see Xisuma sitting outside.

Xisuma was always in that garden. Usually alone, but he was joined today by their brother, his black hair covering half of his face. The two were talking while they drew in the softer bits of dirt, their backs facing the door.

Ex walked in, hoping to scare the two and make them fall in the pond. How funny that would be!

As he crept closer, however, he could hear what they were saying.

“I don’t know, Xisuma…”

“Ex is weird. All he wants to do is what I want to do. He’s copying me and I hate him. I wish he’d just disappear,” Xisuma said, shoving a stick into the dirt.

Ex could feel tears begin to pool in his eyes. He rushed away as quickly and as quietly as he could without his two siblings hearing him, running straight into his room.

He tried not to cry, he really did. His mother always said that crying was weakness. Despite his best efforts, he cried anyway. 

Ex was sick of it. Sick of his mother playing favorites, sick of his brothers hating him for no reason, sick of everything. 

Maybe it was time to give them a taste of their own medicine.

---

 Ex could hear voices before he fully woke up, sleep still clinging to him like velcro.

“-We can’t just leave him like this! It obviously took him a lot of energy to get here, and if I hadn’t given him health potions he’d probably be dead by now,” Grian argued.

“Grian. You don’t know Evil Xisuma. He’s been terrorizing the server for years. This is just another sick joke he’s playing on us,” Doc responded curtly. “A cheap attempt to hurt us and probably him, too. It’s sick.”

“Doc. Grian could have a point here. Why would Ex go through all the trouble to come back just for a prank? Also, he never took them this far…” Joe said. Ex could hear him walking over to stand next to Grian.

“I’m with Doc on this one,” Impulse declared, “we really can’t trust Ex, especially right now.”

A murmur of agreement rippled through the group.

“We can’t divide like this,” Wels suddenly said. “This isn’t something we can joke about, and I’m certain that Ex wouldn’t either. Not like this. I don’t think we can afford to not believe him.”

Ex’s eyes shot open, brain suddenly registering what they were talking about.

“Oh! You’re awake!” Grian said, a soft smile replacing the distress that previously covered his face. “Feeling any better?”

“I still feel like shit. But, uh, not important. What’s…” he sat up slowly, only to be met with around twenty glares in his direction. “...Ah. Hi there.”

Doc started walking forward. Wels placed a hand in front of him, gaze narrowing. The silence was deafening.

Did they all seriously have to be here? “...Look. I’m not here to blow up the server or some crap, I actually need help for once,” he said, voice coming out a bit more timid than he would’ve liked. “Xisuma is in danger and I can’t save him alone, as much as I wish I could.”

“Why would we trust you?” Mumbo asked apprehensively. 

“If you’re fine with Xisuma never coming back then sure,” Ex said, “Go ahead and ignore me. I for one would prefer to have him back, but you do you.” His voice cracked at the end, fresh tears forming in his eyes.

A few hermits exchanged awkward glances. Ex had never cried in front of them before.

“Do you know where Xisuma is?” Joe asked.

Ex nodded. “Yeah. I haven’t been there in years, but yeah.”

Joe thought for a moment. “How soon can we leave to get him?”

“What do you mean ‘we’?” Ex asked with a little laugh, “None of you can go where he is. I just need gear and a bit more power.”

“Bullshit.” False folded her arms. “If it’s as dangerous as you’re insinuating, what makes you think you can go in there alone? No offense, but you’re a twig. You don’t stand a chance.”

Ex bit his lip, eyes darting away. “Well-”

“No. Shut up and let us help you save our friend,” she said.

Wels nodded, elbowing Doc, who rolled his eyes but gave a reluctant thumbs up nonetheless. 

“I don’t even know if you guys can get there. Even so, it’s way too dangerous if you don’t know your way around. The palace is massive.”

Doc chuckled. “Palace? Guess we’re kings now. We can send in a small party to go with you to scope out the area and see where the bastards are holding X. Then, everyone can come to beat the shit out of ‘em.” He grinned darkly.

“It’s not that simple-” Ex tried to argue.

“Alright, I’m game,” Wels interrupted. “Find, beat the shit out of, rescue. Sounds like a plan.”

“I’ll join the team,” False piped up. 

Ex glared at the two. “We can’t do that. I don’t even know how you’re going to get there.”

“Oh, we’re going to get there,” Wels said, smiling despite his cold tone, “And when we do, we’re not coming back without X.”

---

Scar heard his com buzz a few times, but didn’t bother to check. The pounding in his head had become less of a nuisance and more of a block, a stopper in doing anything. It was too goddamn loud. 

He stood over a portal. He was in a daze. Why am I at the Stronghold? What the hell is going on? Why does my head hurt so much??

He stomped on an eye of ender, the portal suddenly disappearing. He stomped down on the next, and then the next and the next until it was all empty, save for the glass-like substance sticking out of his boots.

The pounding began to lessen, only by a little, but it felt like heaven compared to before. Scar smiled.

Everyone’s in their own place, just as it should be.